In recent years, there has been a great resurgence in the use of wood burning stoves. Such devices do not always lend themselves to modern floorplans because the substantial amount of radiated heat precludes placement of such stoves too close to the walls of a room. To some extent, this problem can be dealt with by placing a thermal insulating or refractory material on the adjacent wall, suitable materials of this type being stone, brick or asbestos sheeting. A more recent proposal, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,705 issued Feb. 22, 1977 to James H. Robertson, involves the use of large vertical panels with internal airflow passages which permit the convective movement of air from a lower air inlet grill to an upper air outlet grill.
A need has also been recognized for introducing heat from a wood burning stove into the air distribution system of a modern furnace. Presently, the only convenient way to achieve this is to purchase an add-on wood furnace which sits beside the conventional furnace and is connected to the central heating system. While this system is effective, it requires the purchase of a specialized piece of equipment which, by its very nature, must be placed at an inconvenient location.